Below, read a selection of real quotes from Hagan, who went on to describe O’Rourke as “down to earth,” “charismatic,” and “gifted with this, you know, connection” Thursday morning on CNN.

The Personality

“He has an aura.”

“Whereas Obama is from the tail end of the baby boom, Beto O’Rourke is quintessentially Generation X, weaned on Star Wars and punk rock and priding himself on authenticity over showmanship and a healthy skepticism of the mainstream.”

“Whether onstage or on Facebook Live or in person, O’Rourke has a preternatural ease.”

“O’Rourke’s radical openness can also look like naïveté, as with his Instagrammed teeth-cleaning, which was quickly clipped, isolated from its context, and made to look ridiculous. Skeptics question whether O’Rourke’s political transcendentalism can sustain the meat grinder of a national election.”

[on his infamous DUI and alleged hit and run] “He failed a sobriety test and was handcuffed. In his telling, he was pathetic but nonetheless chivalrous.”

The Decision

“Beto O’Rourke will have to define himself against a crowded field of Democratic candidates, but he doesn’t feel the need to draw blood to define himself.”

“But unlike Trump, O’Rourke can appear almost too innocent to be a politician—too decent, too wholesome, the very reason he became popular also the same reason he could be crucified on the national stage. I tell O’Rourke that perhaps he’s simply too normal to be president. ‘Whether you meant it or not, I take that as a compliment,’ he says.”